Animal trap



ou. 7,1924. l Alxaalforsz VSR. w. czuDwoRTl-l` r ANIMAL TRA-P Sheets-'Sheetl 2 `Fle d Feb. 21. 1923 IN VEN TOR. /FK (aou/awr# ATToRNEYs.

Patented Oct. 7, 1924.

TATEs ANIMAL man?.

Application led February 21:, 1923. Serial No. 620,448,

To all whom t (may concer/n:w

Be it known that l, ROYAL W. CUDWORTH, a citizenrof the United States, rand a resident of San Francisco, county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented va new and useful Animal Trap, of which the following is a specification.

rlhe present invention rela-tes to improve'- ments in animal traps and is particularly designed to be used in slaughtering houses for the securing of animals to be killed. The particularobjeet of the invention is to provide portable means allowing an animal as austeer for instance tobe trappedwithout effort on the part of the operators and to be secured in a position where it Ycannot move and where its head i-s lifted clear of the trapping 'device so that` the means for killing the a'niniallmay be readily applied. Further objectsl and advantages of the de- `vice will appear as the specification proceeds.

The preferred form of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 showsauvertical rear view 'of my device with the sliding body trap or trough in lowered position ready to be sprung, Figure 2 a side elevation of the same with an animal ,trapped therein, Figure 3 a horizontal section taken along line 111-111 ofFigure 1 andFigure 4 an'enlar-ged detailview showing' a catch u sedl in connection with Amydevice'. While I `have shown only thep'referred formrof the invention it should be understood that various changes or modifications may be made` with- ,in the scope of they claims hereto attached l vention.

without departingfrom the spirit of the inl My trap `is mounted on a truck adapted to travel on rails (3) and comprises a lcage (4) disposed ytransversely to the travelling direc-tion of the truck and heldin place by means ofsuitable braces .The cage is 'supported on crossl members (70) of frames (8)k resting on the body of the truck. The ,rails (3) are arranged in such a man-nerr'elative to the general Hoor that the truck operates below the floor level and 'the floor (11)l of the cage is flush with the floor o f the ,building in which the animals toghe slaughtered are confined.

The vcage itself is aj rectangular box as shown in the Adra-wing ofsufli'cient width and height to allow the animal te bev trapped when passing therethrough. The front and rear ends 'of the cagegare open and the rear end connects with: the room in which the animals to be killed are keptv while the front end preferably opens4 upon a stack of hay or a si'rnila-i` baitkfor themanimal's'.

A central'portioh (12) of the `floor corresponding in length4 substantial-ly lto the dis; tance between the frontl and hind legs of the animal to be trapped is detached from the balance of the floor and mounted with freedom of vertical ksliding motion in the following man-ner. From :the four corners of this central pyertion, which latter .is some what narrower than the width of the cage, rise four upright members (13) each two of-which are connected by means fof boards (-14) so as to form a trough adapted to fit i around the of the'animal. lBracing members (16,) may be introduced in the l'ower corners of this trough to make the same conform more closely to the "shapejof the halii-niels body. VFrom each upright.I t

member @(13) extend .outwardly and in spaced relation with one another two plates (17) secured tothe upright members by means of bolts (18) o'r in any other suitable manner. Y groove between the sameare adapted to slidably engage stationary upright members (19) secured to the sides of the lcage so that the trough may be slid upwardly within the cage until stopped by'suitable projections (-21) extending inwardly from the upright members (19). l l y Vertical motion is imparted to" the `trough by -mea'ns off a heavy weight. (22') disposed` on the outside ofthe cage and connected to These plates. which .form `a the two sides of the trough by means of two calile's(23)l and (24) passing over two pulle'yfs and (27g) supported in brackets (28) disposed on, thetop of the cage. f' The weight is normally held inan uppermost positionready for actiony by means of a catch (29) shown Iin "detail in Figure 4 engaging teeth l (31)- extending from the weight which latter is yadapted to slide in a guide member (32); The catch comprises a bar l(33) slotted as shownat (34) and pivotally supported on a stationary pin (36) extending through the slot and the yoke` shaped member (37)pivoted onthe pin (3(5) within the slot. .Onerarm y(38) of the yoke shaped member .S adaptedto engage any one of theteeth of the weight so as to hold the lsame against downward Lmotion while;V the other armY lies flat against one sider of the bar and is yieldingly held in that position by means of a spring (4l). While this construction prevents the weight from moving downwardly relative to the catch it does not interfere with the upward motion of the weight.

At the front end of the cage is provided a transverse bar (42) to which are pivoted in operative relation to one another twc vertical bars adapted to form a stanchion for holding the neck of the animal. The two bars of the stanchion7 the central portions cf which ride in a slot in the top of the cage, are actuated by means of weights (44) which are connected to the bars by ropes (46) and which pass over pulleys (47). Normally' the two bars of vthe stanchion are locked in an open position by two latches (48) pivoted to a trans the beam `verse rod (49) and extending intol the rei spective paths of the bars of the stanchion but when these 4latches are removed the weights draw the two bars (43) together so as to engage then'eck vof the animal and the bars are locker, in their final position by means of pawls (5l) engaging a ratchet in vertical slots (56'). A rope (57) connecting the free end of the latch (48) with the free end of the catch (29) is guided around l/Vhen the beam is in the rear portion of the two horizontal slots 55.4) the rope (57) is stretched taut but still allows both the latch (48) and the catch (29) to perform their function. lWhen the animal advances it pushes against the horizontal beam (53) and pushes the same not only forward but also allows it to drop into the vertical slot In going through this movement the beam exerts a pull on beth ends of the rope and causes the catch (29) to be tripped so that the weight (22) may be dropped and simultaneously takes the latch (48) out of the paths of the two stanchion bars so vas to allow the latter to 'close in on the animal. 55

The operation of the device should be clearly understood from the foregoing desfription. As the animal passes through the cage and arrives at a position in which its front legs and its hind legs are disposed en opposite sides of the trough, the front portion of its body will strike the 'beam (53) and force the lsame forwardly and dcwnwardly whereby a pull is exerted on two ends of the rope (57). The catch (29) is thereby disengaged from the weight (22) which is allowed to drop whereby the trough is raised between the legs of the animal so that it engages the body portion of the latter and exercises a lifting effect. lt is not necessary for the purposes of this device that the animal be lifted clear off the floor, if only its body is lifted sufliciently high so that the legs although touching the floor are rendered ineffective. At the same time or immediately thereafter the latches (48) are removed from the path of the stanchion bars and the weights (44) close the latter which are held in the closed position by means of the pawls (5l).

The weight (22) after having reached its lowermost position is held in said position by means of a second catch (58).

I claim:

1. A trap for animals of the character described comprising a cage allowing the animal to enter thereinto, said cage having a section of the floor and sides loose and arranged to mo-ve upwardly to engage the.` body of the animal between its fore and hind legs.

2. A trap for animals' of the character described comprising a cage allowing the animal to enter thereinto and means associated with the cage adapted to engage the va section of the floor and sides vertically slidable and adapted to engage the body of the animal between its fore and hind legs, a clamp for engaging opposite sides of the neck of the animal and automatic means for actuating the sliding floor and l clamp.

4. A trap for animals of the character described comprising a cage allowing the animal to enter thereinto, means associated with the cage adapted to engage the body of the animal between the fore and hind legs of the same for exercising a lifting effect, means for engaging the neck of the animal from opposite sides for confining the same, and means for rendering both of said means active simultaneously adapted to be actuated by the advancing animal.

5. A trap for animals of the character described comprising a cage allowing the animal to enter thereinto having a central Hoor portion mounted with freedom of vertical motion and means for raising said floor portion for operative engagement with the body of the animal whereby a li-fting effect in exercised. l

6. A trap for animals of the character described comprising a cage allowing the animal to enter thereinto having a central licor portion mounted with freedom of vertical motion, a weight for raising said floor portion into operative engagement with the body of the animal whereby a lifting eect is eXercised having a catch associated therewith for holding the same in an operative position and means actuated by the advancing animal for releasing the catch.`

7 A trap for animals of the character described comprising a cage allowing the animal to enter thereinto having a central floor portion mounted -with freedom of vertical motion, a weight for raising said floor portion into operative engagement with the body of the animal whereby a'lifting eect is exercised having a catch associated therewith for holding the same in an operative position and a beam stretched across the fro-nt end of the cage having an o-perative engagement with the catch adapted to be actuated by the advancing animal for releasing the catch.

8. A trap for animals of the character described comprising a cage allowing the animal to enter thereinto having a central floor portion mounted with freedom of vertical motion, a weight for raising said Hoor portion into operative engagement with the body of the animal whereby a lifting effect is exercised, a vertical bar pivotally mounted in the front portion of the cage in operative relation toa second bar adapted to be swung into a neck confining position, and means adapted to be actuated by the advancing animal for simultaneously renderingv the weight and the bar active.

9. A trap for animals of the character described comp-rising al cage allowing the animal lo enter thereinto having a central floor portion mounted with freedom of vertical motion, a. weight for raising said floor portion into operative engagement with the body of the animal whereby a lifting eect is exercised, having a catch associated therewith for holding the same in an operative position, a vertical bar pivotally mounted in the front portion of the cage in operative relation to a second bar having a weight associated therewith for swinging the same into a neck confining position with a catch for holding the same in an operative position, and a lbeam stretched across the f fro-nt end of the cage operatively connected with both catches adapted to be actuated by the advancing animal for releasingv the Same'.

ROYAL W. GUDWORTI-I. 

